It was early in the morning the very next day. A group of people comprising of nuns and children were standing in front of the orphanage, bidding goodbye to the three children who decided to join.
"are you guys really sure about this?"
Said Teresa to the three kids in front her. The three were Jericho, Millie, and Fredrich. All of three them bought a bag that had all of their belongings in them, they didn't really have that much other than a few sets of children's clothes and other personal belongings so they were all fairly light.
"It's ok sister Teresa, this was our decision to begin with." (Millie)
"Ye, she's right! We weren't forced or anything, we did this because this is what we want, nothing more." (Fred)
Assuring the nun in front of them, Millie and Fredrich, replied to her worries the best they could.
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After the misunderstandings were cleared up yesterday and we all went back to the orphanage, Teresa discussed everything with the nuns and decided to leave the decision of leaving to the children.
I, was of course given the responsibility of relaying what had happened to the children hiding in the shed. After hearing what I had to say, those who had some awareness were able to decide for themselves on whether or not they want to go.
Between all of us only 6 were of suitable age to join, with the rest being too young to go. The nuns also wouldn't allow them to go even if they wanted to so that was that.
Of the 6 however, only 3 were willing to go, surprising Jericho greatly.
"Orson?"
"I'm sorry guys…. Although I'm sure that it will be fun… I have enough 'excitement'. I just want to stay here and live a normal life you know? And besides, whose gonna take care of these little runts if all 4 of the oldest decides to leave?"
"…Ors- "
"Don't worry Fred, I won't regret this, I'm plenty satisfied with where I am already."
"…fine."
Ending it with that, the three who decided to join left in order to meet the visitors waiting in a clearing outside of the orphanage. In order to truly qualify, Ken himself had to check on the children's capabilities.
On the way to the testing site the three had a conversation with one another.
"What about you Jer?" (Millie)
"Hm?"
"I mean, you seem to be the most eager out of all of us to join, why's that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I wanna ask that too." (Fred)
"I believe that strength and influence will be very important for the days to come, joining this organization of theirs is the fastest way I can think of in order for me to gain that." (Jericho)
"Hmmm, your right. But wasn't your motto "surviving at all cost"? if so then joining this organization should be more dangerous than staying at the orphanage, right?"
"As I said before, I need to gain strength now in order to have a better chance at survival in the future, that's all."
"Hmmmm…. That isn't enough of a reason-"
"Millie Adolf."
Being glared at by Jericho's cold grey eyes, Millie had no choice but to shut her mouth, ceasing her questions.
"I'm sorry..."
"…. Don't be, I should be the one apologizing. I got irritated because even I don't know the clear reason why I'm doing this as well… Sorry for lashing at you."
"It's fine"
"Oh, there here, there here." (Jake)
Arriving at the planned location the 3 children saw 3 men dressed in black slim suits. They were the uninvited visitors who came to recruit them, and the very same three men who got their asses handed to them by Teresa, Jake, Kendrick, and Des.
"Ok then let me make this short so that we can finish this as quickly as possible, my name is Kendrick and I will be your main proctor for the test. I have a gift called [Gift Observation] that allows me to know the gifts of those my right eye sees so all were testing today is your proficiency."
"!?"
The kids were all surprised by what the man said, especially Jericho
{What! then does that mean he already knows what my gift is? No wonder he was so generous when it came to accepting my favor.}
Seeing the look on the dark-haired boy's face, Kendrick approached him and whispered in his ear.
"I've heard from sister Teresa that your hiding your gift, although I do think that you're just being overly cautious, it is a good mindset to have so I won't be saying anything to the others just yet."
"…"
"Alright then, as I've mentioned I will already know what your gifts are with a look, so this test is just to see how proficient you guys are with them as that will allow us to assess how roughly talented you are. Why don't we have the pretty lady go first?"
Following his suggestion, Millie went on front and started activating her gift.
Although not as much as Jericho, she still consistently trained her gift along with her stamina during her free time. This allowed her to do more with her gift now, unlike when she was only barely able to light a ball fire before.
Summoning a small flame in front of her, she controlled that flame to form a circle that went around her body like a hula hoop, it was a showmanship of her increased control and stamina, impressing the three men before her.
Along with seeing her gift firsthand, Ken also activated his gift in order to get a better understanding of her gift's abilities.
"[Fire Bender], it is one of the best gifts I've seen so far! Unlike other elementalist I know of whose gifts are highly limited to certain roles, her gift gives her full control of fire, making it extremely versatile!" (Ken)
"If I remember it right, didn't we manage to recruit two kids with the ability to control an element as well?" (Jake)
"those two had [water barrier] and [wind cutter] respectively, although highly valuable gifts, one is mainly for defensive purposes while the other is for attacking. In term of overall power and versatility, Millie's gift is on a whole nother level to theirs." (Des)
"An ability to create and control flames huh, makes me jealous." (Jake)
"She must've trained very hard along with her natural talent, I know a few adults who possess elemental gifts like hers, but believe me when I say that none of them come close to controlling their gifts as good as she did." (Des)
"Although the output could've been better, considering her age and current stamina this is already more than satisfactory, Millie Adolf, congratulations you pass." (Ken)
"hah..hah…hah.. Thank you."
Looking at the list, Ken called up the next child.
"Next, Fredrich."
"Here!"
While Fred was taking preparing to rake his test, Jericho silently went closer to Des and asked him something.
"Be honest with me, there is no test is there? You guys were already planning on passing everyone from the start after seeing our gifts with Ken."
Des stayed quiet and didn't answer my question, only letting out a small smirk as he watched Fredrich throw a rubber ball with speeds reaching roughly 170 km/hr.